I am looking at the possibility of an impact tsunami occcuring in the Atlantic Ocean ca 1,100 BCE.This would have disrupted the Iberian metal trade,and this in turn may have led to the collapse in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Another possibility is that an entirely normal climate collapsemay have led to population migrations.

Or perhaps conflicts between the major political powers in the eastern Mediterranean led to trade system collapse and population migrations.

So there's three distinct hypotheses for you to rage about.Since several hundred million people now live in the effected areas,it would be nice to know exactly what happened then.

And If you can't make yourself useful,then please at least get the f**k out of the way.

Zangger and Woudhuizen said that it would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, for Mellaart or someone else to create such a forgery. The inscription is very lengthy, and Mellaart couldn't read, much less write Luwian, they said in their paper. They also noted that nobody had deciphered Luwian until the 1950s, which means that Perrot wouldn't have been able to forge it either. Zangger and Woudhuizen added that few scholars today are able to read Luwian, much less write a lengthy inscription. They said they also don't understand why Mellaart would have wanted to create a lengthy and complex forgery, but leave it largely unpublished.

Mellaart was accused in his life of inadvertently aiding smugglers and exaggerating or even "imagining evidence" (as Ian Hodder, the current director of excavations at Çatalhöyük put it) to prove his archaeological ideas; however, he was never found to have created a forgery, Zangger and Woudhuizen noted.

Even so, Zangger told Live Science that until records of the inscription are found apart from Mellaart's estate, he can't be totally certain it's authentic and not a forgery.

"I am looking at the possibility of an impact tsunami occcuring in the Atlantic Ocean ca 1,100 BCE." What would be the effect of this water hitting the Gibraltar opening as well as the Atlantic shore on both sides?

The inscription tells of how King Kupantakuruntas ruled a kingdom called Mira that was located in what is now western Turkey. Mira controlled Troy (also in Turkey), according to the inscription, which additionally described Trojan prince Muksus leading a naval expedition that succeeded in conquering Ashkelon, located in modern-day Israel, and constructing a fortress there. [Biblical Battles: 12 Ancient Wars Lifted from the Bible]

The inscription details King Kupantakuruntas' storied path to the throne of Mira: His father, King Mashuittas, took control of Troy after a Trojan king named Walmus was overthrown. Soon after that, King Mashuittas reinstated Walmus on the Trojan throne in exchange for his loyalty to Mira, the inscription says.

Kupantakuruntas became king of Mira after his dad died. He then took control of Troy, although he wasn't the actual king of Troy. In the inscription, Kupantakuruntas describes himself as a guardian of Troy, imploring future rulers of Troy to "guard Wilusa [an ancient name for Troy] (like) the great king (of) Mira (did)." (translation by Woudhuizen)

The 35-cm tall limestone frieze was found back in 1878 in the village of Beyköy, approximately 34 kilometers north of Afyonkarahisar in modern Turkey. It bears the longest known hieroglyphic inscription from the Bronze Age. Soon after local peasants retrieved the stones from the ground, the French archeologist Georges Perrot was able to carefully copy the inscription. However, the villagers subsequently used the stones as building material for the foundation of their mosque.

From about 1950 onwards, Luwian hieroglyphs could be read. At the time, a Turkish/US-American team of experts was established to translate this and other inscriptions that during the 19th century had made their way into the collections of the Ottoman Empire. However, the publication was delayed again and again. Ultimately, around 1985, all [of] the researchers involved in the project had died.

Copies of these inscriptions resurfaced recently in the estate of the English prehistorian James Mellaart, who died in 2012. In June 2017, Mellaart's son Alan handed over this part of the legacy to the Swiss geoarcheologist Dr. Eberhard Zangger, president of the Luwian Studies foundation, to edit and publish the material in due course. The academic publication of the inscription will appear in December 2017 in the Proceedings of the Dutch Archaeological and Historical Society – TALANTA. Among other things, Zangger and the Dutch linguist and expert in Luwian language and script, Dr. Fred Woudhuizen, will present a transcription, a translation, a detailed commentary, and the remarkable research history of the find.

The inscription and a summary of its contents also appear in a book by Eberhard Zangger that is being published in Germany today: Die Luwier und der Trojanische Krieg – Eine Forschungsgeschichte.

According to Zangger, the inscription was commissioned by Kupanta-Kurunta, the Great King of Mira, a Late Bronze Age state in western Asia Minor. When Kupanta-Kurunta had reinforced his realm, just before 1190 BC, he ordered his armies to storm toward the east against the vassal states of the Hittites. After successful conquests on land, the united forces of western Asia Minor also formed a fleet and invaded a number of coastal cities (whose names are given) in the south and southeast of Asia Minor, as well as in Syria and Palestine.

Four great princes commanded the naval forces, among them Muksus from the Troad, the region of ancient Troy. The Luwians from western Asia Minor advanced all the way to the borders of Egypt, and even built a fortress at Ashkelon in southern Palestine.

According to this inscription, the Luwians from western Asia Minor contributed decisively to the so-called Sea Peoples' invasions – and thus to the end of the Bronze Age in the eastern Mediterranean.

Until now, any explanations and scenarios for the end of the Bronze Age have failed to take sufficient account of the kingdoms in Western Asia Minor.Inscriptions that were found during the 19th century describe in detail the events at the time of the demise of the Hittite empire.These documents disappeared in government and private collections, and until now remained unpublished.

The Hittite empire collapsed after almost 100 years of civil war. Tribes from the southern shores of the Black Sea raided the defenseless Hittite settlements.After Hattuša had perished, Kuzitesup of Karkemish, the most influential Hittite vassal, continued to fight for the interests of the former empire.

A military alliance between the countries of Western Asia Minor formed under the leadership of Kupanta-Kurunta, the Great King of Mira, Arzawa, Šeha, and Wiluša.Four princes from Western Asia Minor commanded a fleet of 500 ships and 10,000 warriors against Cyprus, Karkemish, and Syria.

The military leader of the raiders was Muksus, a great prince from a neighboring town of Troy. He later succeeded Kupanta-Kurunta.

Kuzitesup of Karkemisch eventually surrendered. The Kings of Western Asia Minor made him their vassal.

The subsequent peace permitted both regions to flourish, Western and Southeastern Asia Minor. In both areas, use of the Luwian language and the hieroglyphic language prevailed for several centuries.

e.p. - 250 Luwian bullae have recently been excavated at Carchamesh.

In his new book, geoarchaeologist Eberhard Zangger portrays eight discoverers who since 1872 have explored the early history of Anatolia. In retrospect, these pioneers achieved important breakthroughs. During their time, however, they all failed within the university system. This latest piece of research history deals with the ancient documents found at Beyköy – and it reads like a crime novel. Having heard nothing of the fate of the documents for several decades, Zangger embarked on a quest for copies, and succeeded in finding them in the estate of the British prehistorian James Mellaart. The book is published by Orell Füssli in Zurich. It comprises 360 pages and contains 44 illustrations (ISBN 978-3-280-05647-9).

Notes and documents from the estate of the English prehistoric historian James Mellaart report how large documents in Luwian script and language wound up in the collections of the Ottoman Empire and private individuals as early as 1850 to 1900. After 1956, a Turkish-American team of researchers worked on the translation and publication of these documents. Despite this, nothing has ever appeared. Since June 2017, transcripts and translations of the documents have been in the possession of the Luwian Studies foundation.

The inscription describes the rise of a powerful kingdom known as Mira. According to the translation, Mira's ruler, King Mashuittas, stole the Trojan throne from King Walmus and then handed it back in exchange for Troy's loyalty to Mira. When Mashuittas' son, Kupantakuruntas, succeeded his father, he took control of Troy and named himself its guardian. He pleaded with the future rulers of Troy, telling them to "guard Wilusa [Ilios, Helios, an ancient name for Troy] (like) the great king (of) Mira (did)."

Mellaart briefly mentioned the existence of the inscription in at least one publication, a book review published in 1992 in the Bulletin of the Anglo-Israel Archaeological Society journal. But he never fully described the inscription in a scientific publication.

According to Mellaart's notes, the inscription was copied in 1878 by an archaeologist named Georges Perrot near a village called Beyköy in in Turkey. Shortly after Perrot recorded the inscription, villagers used the stone as building material for a mosque, according to Mellaart's notes. In the aftermath of the inscription being used as building material for the mosque, Turkish authorities searched the village and found three inscribed bronze tablets that are now missing. The bronze tablets were never published and it is not certain exactly what they say.

A scholar named Bahadır Alkım (who died in 1981) rediscovered Perrot's drawing of the inscription and made a copy, which Mellaart, in turn, also copied and which the Swiss-Dutch team has now deciphered.

Mellaart was part of a team of scholars who, starting in 1956, worked to decipher and publish Perrot's copy of the inscription, along with the now-missing bronze tablets and several other Luwian inscriptions, his notes say.

Mellaart's notes state that the team he was part of was unable to publish its work before most of the team members died. The notes add that the team Mellaart worked on included the scholars Albrecht Goetze (died 1971), Bahadır Alkım (died 1981), Handam Alkım (died 1985), Edmund Irwin Gordon (died 1984), Richard David Barnett (died 1986) and Hamit Zübeyir Koşay (died 1984). Mellaart, who was one of the younger members of the team, died at the age of 86, having outlived the rest of his team.

The Swiss-Dutch team found that in his later years, Mellaart spent a considerable amount of time trying to understand the copies of the different Luwian inscriptions in his possession. However, Mellaart couldn't read Luwian; he was brought onto the team for his knowledge of the archaeological landscape of western Turkey, while other members could read the ancient language.

29) Mursili II 1344-1316 BCEin the 10th year of his reign,he begins campaign against Hayashaan omen of the sun occursthought to be eclipse of March 13, 1335Tawanna interprets this as the imminent destruction of royal houseMursili II ignores him and goes on to conquer Hayasha(Astour, page 5)

One of the causes of the plague was seen to be the breaking of a treaty bySuppuliliuma's invasion of the Egyptian Amqa(Astour, page 64)

Manapa-Tarhunta (read "tyrant" for Tarhunta? or an ethnonym (Tyrrehnians= Etruscans?) flees from his brotherUra-Tarhunta (read "tyrant" for Tarhunta? or an ethnonym (Tyrrehnians= Etruscans?, ruler of Seha River-Appiaya)Manapa-Tarhunta (read "tyrant" for Tarhunta? or an ethnonym (Tyrrehnians= Etruscans?) backsUhha-ziti, king of Arzawa, in revoltMursili II defeats Uhha-ziti of Arzawainstalls Manapa-Tarhuntaas (read "tyrant" for Tarhunta? or an ethnonym (Tyrrehnians= Etruscans?) as ruler of Seha River-Appiaya(Beckman, page 78-79)

THE ACHAEANS APPEAR

Uhhazitis king of Arzawa rules from Apasus (Ephesus)Uhhazitis - Looks like kidney stones; not struck by impactMursili II attacks Piyama-KURUNDAS, the son of Uhhazitis, king of Arzawa;Uhhazitis flees to islandsUhhazitis allies himself with the king of Ahhiuwa (Achaeans), Tapalazunaulis, son of Uhhazatis went up into PurandasMursili II takes the city of Purandas

Piyama-KURUNDAS, the son of Uhhazitis, King of Arzawa, comes out of the sea with the King of Ahhiyawa (Achaeans).Piyama-KURUNDAS, the son of Uhhazitis, King of Arzawa is defeated by Mursili II in a naval battlenext events as in passage above

Mursili II goes to attack Manapa-Tarhunta (read "tyrant" for Tarhunta? or an ethnonym (Tyrrehnians= Etruscans?, ruler of Seha River-Appiaya), the son of Muwa-WalwisManapa-Tarhunta surrenders

"I appointed Mashuiluwas in lordship at MILA, and I spoke as follows to Mashuiluwas:"You, Mashuiluwas, came as a refugee before my father, and my father accepted you,and he made you a son-in-law. He gave you Muwattis his daughter, my sister, as your wife. Afterwards he did not stand with you, and over your enemies he did not smite.I have stood beside you: I have smote your enemies.Moreover I have built cities and fortified them;I have occupied them with troops in garrison.And I have established you as the lord of MILA."

Problems on all three sides: to the north the Gasgans, to the south Mitani,to the west Achaeans

KUPANTA KURUNTA is the son of Muwatalli (daughter of Mursili II's father),(Astour, page 36)

(DATE UNCERTAIN - but Beckman concluded that mention of Kurunta and Madduwatta's attack on him, together with mention of installation of Kurunta as King of Tarhunta place events in it later, under Hatusili III.Most likely it belongs here.)

The King's father (Mursili II) gave Zippasla (Sipylus) to Madduwatta The King's father (Mursili II) offered Madduwatta Mount Hariyati, closer to HattiMadduwatta refusedThe King's father (Mursili II) asked Madduwattato attack KUPANTA-KURANTA (kore/te,attendant to the God (the king)=Prince?)ruler of Arzawa [note that KUPANTA-KURANTA was ruler of MIRA and Kuwaliya above]

The King's father (Mursili II) also specifically enjoined Madduwattanot to form alliance with Attarasiya [Atreus, family house, or title/ethnonym ( King of Tyrrehnians= Etruscans?]

Attarasiya [Atreus, family house, or ruler+ethnonym, King of Tyrrehnians= Etruscans?]plans attack on Madduwatta.The King's father (Mursili II) dispatchesKisnalpi to attack AttarasiyaOne officer of Attarasiya [Atreus of Achaeans, or ruler+ethnonym, King of Tyrrehnians= Etruscans?] killedOne officer of Hatti, Zidanzash, killedAttarasiya [Atreus of Achaeans,, family house, or ruler+ethnonym, King of Tyrrehnians= Etruscans?] returns to his own land

[Zidanzash appears in the sacrificial list E with two known sons ofSuppililuliumash, died 1346 BCE. Otten assigned the Indictment to the reign ofArnuwandash I. Following Astour, page 32, It seems it must belong here - e.p.g.]

INDICTMENT OF MADDUWATTA (Part 3)Madduwatta tells King (Muwatalli) that he will conquer Hapalla for himMadduwatta takes all of Hapalla for himself.

Madduwatta asked for passagebut then tried to attack Hittite army.Antahitta and Mazlawa, ruler of Kuwaliya witnessed this

Madduwatta takes from Hatti:The land of Zumantithe land of Wallarimmathe land of Iyalantithe land of Zumarrithe land of Mutamutassathe land of Attarimathe land of Surutathe land of Hursanassathe city of UpnihuwalaKing (Muwatalli) brings an army out of the land of Salpiattacks MadduwattaMadduwatta enlists the aid of the city of Pitassa.Madduwatta tries to enlist aid of KUPANTA-KURUNTA of Arzawa.

The King (Muwatalli) sends his staff bearer ZuwaMadduwatta kills himMadduwatta burns down the city of Marasa

The King (Muwatalli) sends his staff bearer Mulliyaraand demands return of the land of HapallaMadduwatta returns Hapalla, but keeps the land of Iyalantithe land of Zumarrithe land of Wallarimma

King (Muwatalli) dispatches his staff bearer MulliyaraMadduwatta claims control over Niwalla,claiming he is retainer of Piseni

The King (Muwatalli) asksMadduwatta to stop raiding Alashiya (Cyprus)with Attarasiya [Atreus of Achaeans, or family house name, or ruler/ethnonym, King of Tyrrehnians= Etruscans?] and the ruler of Piggaya (Phthia, Achilles home?)Madduwatta claims thathe did not know that Alashiya (Cyprus) was subject to Hatti(Beckman, page 144 et seq)

"The foreigners conspired together on their islands. All of a sudden, the countries vanished and were dispersed in battle. No country withstood the force of their arms. Hatti, Kode (Kizzuwadna?), Carchemish, Arzawa, and Alashiya (Cyprus) - All were swiftly laid waste.

A camp was pitched at a place in Amurru (Northern Lebanon). They destroyed its people, and its land was as if it had never been.They drew near Egypt with fire going on before...(Lehmann, pages 291-292)

I have not looked at any of this since 2003 or so.As you can see, there were three attempts to reconstruct Hittite chronology:Astour, Beckman, and Lehman.When I first arrived in Illinois I tried to locate Astour, only to lean that he had passed on.

Most of my detailed knowledge of these materials was lost in my stroke,and I have not even seen a Kadmos for well over 10 years.

A few things can be asserted with some confidence:Thera, called Calliste at the time of its eruption in 1628 BCE,was most likely the capitol of the "Lycian Trade Federation"The tsunami from that eruption hit every trading port in that "federation".None the less, it remained intact through LM1B.

Tantalus was the Hittite King Te Haniltishi,and the destruction of the Hittite appenages' military forces in the Joshua Impactled to the invasion of Crete by the the Achaeans, Linear B a2-a-ja,and the end of LM1B.

If you re attempting to build an absolute chronology,the contemporary documents must be in agreement.Further, the chronology must agree with geological evidence,and that evidence includes asteroid and comet impacts.

Secondary literature is good for little more than "color" for any history,and that is only if it ha not been too corrupted.

I have often thought that troweling through the spoils heaps of the early excavatorsmight lead to the recovery of more written materials, cuneiform tablets and tablets in other writing systems.

Astour's placement of the Indictment of Madduwatta was likely wrong. I am looking forward to seeing Woudhuizen's book.Of course, I am now half a world away from where I'd rather be, which is troweling through tsunami deposits on Crete. Oh well

Of course, I am now half a world away from where I'd rather be, which is troweling through tsunami deposits on Crete. Oh well.

E.P. Why the hell would you rather be troweling? You're not an archaeologist. You're a journalist. You're not trained to do any archaeological excavations properly. You'd only mess things up & then excuse yourself because of having a stroke.Please... Try to be realistic.

My brother in law ( a well trained Egyptologist) told me when I was small that I would never be let to excavateas I could not tell a mud brick wall from the surrounding soil.

But I still think l could handle troweling through tsunami deposits on CreteI think I could tell the difference between fresco fragments and the surrounding soil/rubble.

Or I could run a very high power metal detector over the deposits.

There are also the sites of Iklaina, and other graves near the Griffin Warrior's grave

Baring that field work, I'd rather catch up with Linear A, and with some help perhaps check out Brown's values using computational linguistics.(what would have been maybe 2 month's work before my strokeis beyond my own personal abilities now:updating my Linear A data set and coding the algorithms,which I have described to you before.A port from Fortran to Cand perhaps then exhausting all possible hypothetical phonetic value assignmentsusing a real powerhouse computer.

Or perhaps catching up with the Luwian hieroglyphic work in depth.)

Instead I find myself working through Native American traditional histories,one after another after another, using skills I developed for other work.And these traditional histories are generally treated as trash by many anthropologists.

And then there are the ruins, many of which are unknown, built by a people generally unknown by many anthropologists:https://youtu.be/aBFlFRLnzk8who are more than willing to emphatically share their ignorance.

That's only one example, but there are several others, for other peoples.

In sum, "Man and Impact in the Americas" was originally intended to be a test run for"Man and Impact in the Ancient Near East". But a stroke intruded.

In Native American thinking they say that it was meant to be.At least there is the Mixtec hieroglyphic system to read up on,but that is not much compensation.

Assembled from The Epitome of the Library of Apollodorus and the fragments collected by George James Frazier.

It is often pointed out that the creators of myths often develop principle characters whose names are derived from place names. Thus while Dorian myths of the earlier peroids provide little in the way of historical information, their particular value here lies in their preservation of place names which were otherwise lost.

THE GODS

Ocean and Tethys had a son Inachus, after whom a river in Argos is called Inachus.

Inachus and Melia, daughter of Ocean, had sons, Phoroneus, and Aegialeus.

According to Apion, the flight of the Israelites from Egypt took place during the reign of Inachus at Argos. (Eusebius, Praeparatio Evangelii, x.10.10ff.)

AEGELIA - THE AEGEAN SEA

According to Pausanius, the land between Elis and Sicyonia, reaching down to the eastern sea, is now called Achaia after the inhabitants, but of old was called Aegialus, and those who lived in it were called Aegialians. According to the Sicyonians the name is derived from Aegialeus, who was king in what is now Sicyonia; others say that it is from the land, the greater part of which is coast (aigialos). Apollodorus asserts that because Aegialeus died childless, the whole country was called Aegialia.

APIA (THE PELOPONNESE OR ARGOS)

Phoroneus, reigning over the whole land afterwards named Peloponnese, begat Apis and Niobe by a nymph Teledice. Apis converted his power into a tyranny and named the Peloponnese "Apia" after himself; but being a stern tyrant he was conspired against and slain by Thelxion and Telchis. Apis left no child, and being deemed a god was called Sarapis.

In another passage, Pausanius relates more of the Sicyonians myths. The Sicyonians, the neighbours of the Corinthians at this part of the border, said about their own land that Aegialeus was its first and aboriginal inhabitant, that the district of the Peloponnesus still called Aegialus was named after him because he reigned over it, and that he founded the city Aegialea on the plain.

The Sicyonians own citadel, they said, was where their sanctuary of Athena was at Pausanius's time; further, tbey believed that Aegialeus fathered Europs, Europs fathered Telchis, and Telchis fathered Apis. Apis reached such a height of power before Pelops came to Olympia that all the territory south of the Isthmus was called after him Apia.

Apis in turn fathered Thelxion, Thelxion fathered Aegyrus, the Thurimachus, and Thurimachus fathered Leucippus. Leucippus had no male issue, only a daughter Calchinia. There was a story that Calchinia mated with Poseidon, and her child was reared by Leucippus, who at his death handed over to him the kingdom. His name was Peratus.

What is reported of the son of Peratus, Plemnaeus, seemed very wonderful to Pausanius. All the children borne to Plemnaeus by his wife died the very first time they wailed. At last Demeter took pity on Plemnaeus, came to Aegialea in the guise of a strange woman, and reared for Plemnaeus his son Orthopolis. Orthopolis had a daughter Chrysorthe, who is thought to have borne a son named Coronus to Apollo. Coronus had two sons, Corax and a younger one Lamedon.

[This chronology and descent of the gods is quite detailed and quite different from those given by people in other city states.]

PELASGUS

Acusilaus says that Niobe the daughter of Phoroneus had by Zeus (and she was the first mortal woman with whom Zeus cohabited) a son Argus, and also, so says Acusilaus, a son Pelasgus, after whom the inhabitants of the Peloponnese were called Pelasgians.However, Hesiod says that Pelasgus was a son of the soil.

LYCOAN: THE PRE-ERUPTION LYCIANS

Pelasgus had a son Lycaon by Meliboea, daughter of Ocean or, as others say, by a nymph named Cyllene.

[This is a series of pre-deluge names, some of which appear to be place names. Whether the list associates any real names with these place names is an open question. The most important information that this myth preserves is that all of the inhabitants of these regions were Lycian speakers, information which accords well with Dr. Edwin Brown's result that the Linear A tablets preserve Lycian variants. Indeed, Herodotus tells us (1.173.1) that the Lycians were from Crete in ancient times, and that in the past none who lived on Crete were Greek.]

THE DEATH OF THE "SONS" OF LYCOAN AND THE EXPLOSION OF THERA

The sons of Lycaon exceeded all men in pride and impiety; and Zeus, desiring to put their impiety to the proof, came to them in the likeness of a day-laborer. Lycaon's sons offered Zeus hospitality; then having slaughtered a male child of the natives, they mixed his bowels with the sacrifices, and set them before him, at the instigation of the elder brother Maenalus.

But Zeus in disgust upset the table at the place which is still called Trapezus, and blasted Lycaon and his sons by thunderbolts; all but Nyctimus, the youngest; for Earth was quick enough to lay hold of the right hand of Zeus and so appease his wrath.

According to the version of the legend which Apollodorus apparently accepted, Lycaon was a righteous king, who ruled wisely like his father Pelasgus before him (see Paus. 8.1.4-6 ), but his virtuous efforts to benefit his subjects were frustrated by the wickedness and impiety of his sons, who by exciting the divine anger drew down destruction on themselves and on their virtuous parent, and even imperilled the existence of mankind in the great flood.

Others had it that Lycaon maintained his father Pelasgus's institutions in righteousness. Wishing like his father to wean his subjects from unrighteousness, Lycaon said that Zeus constantly visited him in the likeness of a stranger to view the righteous and the unrighteous.And once, as he himself said, being about to receive the god, he offered a sacrifice.

But of Lycaon's fifty sons, whom he had, as they say, by many women, there were some present at the sacrifice, and wishing to know if they were about to give hospitality to a real god, they sacrificed a child and mixed his flesh with that of the victim, in the belief that their deed would be discovered if the visitor was a god indeed. But they say that the deity caused great storms to burst and lightnings to flash, and that all the murderers of the child perished.

A similar version of the story is reported by Hyginus, who adds that Zeus in his wrath upset the table, and killed the sons of Lycaon with a thunderbolt.

The brilliant astronomer Eratosthenes in his book Catasterismi recorded that the victim was not the king's son, but his grandson Arcas, the son of his daughter Callisto by Zeus. [Callisto is known to be the earlier name for the island of Thera.]Apollodorus differs, relating that when Nyctimus, the youngest son of Lycaon, succeeded to the kingdom, there occurred the flood in the age of Deucalion, which some said was occasioned by the impiety of Lycaon's sons.

THE EXPLOSION OF THERA (1628 BCE)

Ovid preserved something of an account of the catastrophe, an account which is here set in the past tense. We pick up Ovid's story after Lycaon's offense.

"And now Zeus would have scattered his thunder bolts wide, but he feared that the flames, unnumbered, might ignite the sacred ether and burn the axle of the universe;and he remembered that in the scroll of fate,there is a time appointed when the sea and earth and the heavens shall melt, and fire destroy the universe which mighty labour wrought.

THE INITIAL ERUPTION OF THERA AND FLOODING

Thus Zeus laid aside those weapons forged by the skill of Cyclops for a different punishment. For straightway he preferred to overwhelm the mortal race beneath deep waves and storms from every raining sky.

And instantly Zeus shut the Northwind in Aeolian caves,and every other wind that might dispel the gathering clouds. He bade the Southwind blow - the Southwind flies abroad with dripping wings,concealing in the gloom his awful face:the drenching rain descends from his wet beard and hoary locks; dark clouds are on his browsand from his wings and garments drip the dews:his great hands press the overhanging clouds,loudly the thunders roll, and the torrents pour.And Iris, the messenger of Juno, clad in many coloured raiment, draws upward the steaming moisture to renew the clouds.

The standing grain was beaten to the ground,the rustic's crops were scattered in the mire,and the simple farmer bewailed the long year's fruitless toil.

THE EXPLOSION OF THERA

The wrath of Zeus was not content with the powers that emanate from Heaven: he brought to aid his azure brother, Poseidon, the lord of the flowing waves;who called upon the Rivers and the Streams.And when they had entered his impearled abode,their ancient ruler thus began:"A long appeal is needless; pour forth in rage of power; open up your fountains;rush over obstacles; let every stream pour forth in boundless floods."

Thus Poseidon commanded, and none dissenting, all the River Gods returned, and opening up their fountains,rolled tumultuously to the deep unfruitful sea.

MEGA-TSUNAMI

And Poseidon with his trident smote the Earth,which trembling with unwonted throes,heaved up bare the sources of her waters: and the rapid rivers rushed resistless through her open plains, bearing onward the waving grain,the budding groves, the houses, the sheep and men;and the holy temples, and their sacred urns.

The mansions that remained, resisting vast and total ruin, the deepening waves concealed and over-whelming their tottering turrets in the flood and whirling gulf.

And now as one vast expanse,the land and sea were mingled in the waste of endless waves:a sea without a shore.

One desperate man seized on the nearest hill;Another man sitting in his curved boat,plied the long oar where he was wont to plow;Another sailed above his grain, above his hidden dwelling; And yet another hooked a fish that sported in a leafy elm.Perchance an anchor dropped in verdant fields,or curving keels were pushed through tangled vines;and where the gracile goat had enjoyed green pssture,unsightly seals reposed.

Beneath the waves Nereids were wondering, viewing the cities, groves and houses. Dolphins darted amid the trees,meshed in the twisted branches, and beat against the shaken oak trees. There the sheep, affrayed,swam with the frightened wolf, the surging waves floating tigers and lions: the wild boar availed nothing from his lightning shock, nor the stag his fleet footed speed. The wandering bird,seeking umbrageous groves and hidden vales,with wearied pinion drooped into the sea.

Myriads were swept away by the waves,and those the waters spared, starvation slowly overcame at last,for lack of food.

Phocis a fruitful land, laid, between Oeta and Aonia, fair but now submerged beneath a wilderness of rising waves.

There through the clouds Parnassus' two summitspointed upward to the stars' unmeasured height,save which the rolling billows covered all.

DEUCALION, TE/U/CALLION = GOD/KING/OF CALLION (CALLISTE, THERA)

There in Phocis arrived, in a small and fragile boat, Deucalion and the consort of his couch, Pyrrha,prepared to worship the Corycian Nymphs, the mountain deities, and kind Themis, who in that age revealed in oracles the voice of fate. No other lived so good and just as he, No other feared the Gods as she.

When Jupiter beheld the globe covered in ruin, swept with wasting waves,and when he saw only one man left of the myriads,and one helpless woman alone left of the myriads,both of them innocent and worshiping the Gods,he scattered all the clouds; and he blew away the great storms by the cold northwind.

THE SOUND OF THE CONTINUING ERUPTION OF THERA

Once more the earth appeared to heaven and the skies appeared to earth. The fury of the main abated, for Poseidon, the Ocean ruler, laid down his trident and pacified the waves, and he called on azure Triton

Triton arose above the waving seas, his shoulders mailed in purple shells.Poseidon bade Triton blow,blow in his sounding shell, to recall the wandering streams and rivers with a signal known to them.A hollow wreathed trumpet, tapering wide and slender stemmed, the Triton took to hand,and wound the pearly shell at midmost sea.

Between the rising and the setting sunsthe wildered notes resounded from shore to shore;and as it touched his lips, wet with the brine,beneath his dripping beard, it sounded retreat.And all the waters of the land and sea obeyed: Their fountains heard and ceased to flow;their waves subsided; hidden hills uprose;the shores emerged of ocean; channels filled with flowing streams; the soil appeared; the land increased its surface as the waves decreased:and after a length of days the trees put forth,with ooze on bending boughs, their naked tops."

THERA: CALLISTO

Eumelus and some others say that Lycaon had also a daughter Callisto, although Hesiod says Callisto was one of the nymphs, while Asius says that Callisto was a daughter of Nycteus the son of Lycaon, and Pherecydes says that Callisto was a daughter of Ceteus.

Both Herodotus and Pausanius state that Calliste was the earlier name for the island of Thera:

"Now, about this same time, Theras, a descendant of Polynices through Thersander, Tisamenus, and Autesion, was preparing to lead out colonists from Lacedaemon. This Theras was of the line of Cadmus and was an uncle on their mother's side to Aristodemus' sons Eurysthenes and Procles; and while these boys were yet children he held the royal power of Sparta as regent. But when his nephews grew up and became kings, then Theras could not endure to be a subject when he had had a taste of supreme power, and he said he would no longer stay in Lacedaemon but would sail away to his family."

Pausanius states that the Lacedaemonians and Minyans had been expelled from Lemnos by the Pelasgians were led by the Theban Theras, the son of Autesion, to the island now called after him, but formerly named Calliste.

Continuing with Herodotus, "On the island now called Thera, but then Calliste, there were descendants of Membliarus the son of Poeciles, a Phoenician; for Cadmus the son of Agenor had put in at the place now called Thera during his search for Europa; and having put in, either because the land pleased him, or because for some other reason he desired to do so, he left on this island his own relation Membliarus together with other Phoenicians. These Phoenicians dwelt on the island of Calliste for eight generations (the span of LM1B)before Theras came from Lacedaemon."

OVID ON THE APPEARANCE OF COMET ENCKE (1628 BCE)

After his account of the eruption of Thera, and the deluge which killed Lycaon and all his sons, and the survival of Deucalion, Ovid gives an account of the appearance of Comet Encke:

"When Earth, spread over with diluvian ooze,felt heat ethereal from the glowing sun,unnumbered species she gave to the light,and gave to being many an ancient form,or monster new created. Unwilling she thus created enormous Python:Thou unheard of serpent spread so far athwart the side of a vast mountain, didst fill with fear the race of new created man. The God that bears the bow (Apollo - lead deity of Ilios- Troy)destroyed the monster with a myriad darts,and almost emptied all his quiver, before envenomed gore oozed forth from its livid wounds.

Lest time should hide the fame of this achievement in a dark oblivion, Aoollo instituted sacred sports, called The Pythian Games after the Python."

MYTH HISTORY OF ATHENSMYTH HISTORY OF DANAANS

XUTHUS ARRIVES AS A MERCENARY IN ATHENS

After the death of Hellen, Xuthus was expelled from Thessaly by the rest of the sons of Hellen, who charged him with having appropriated some of the ancestral property.Xuthus fled to Athens, where he was deemed worthy to wed the daughter of Erechtheus, by whom he had the sons Achaeus and Ion.

On the death of Erechtheus, Xuthus was appointed judge to decide which of Erechtheus's sons should succeed him. Xuthus decided that Cecrops, the eldest of Erechtheus's sons, should be king, and was accordingly banished from the land by the rest of the sons of Erechtheus.

XUTHUS "CONQUERS" AEGILIA, BUT RETURNS HOME

Xuthus reached Aegialus, made his home there, and died there. Of Xuthus's sons, Achaeus, with the assistance of allies from Aegialus and Athens returned to Thessaly and recovered the throne of his father.

ION SON OF XUTHUS DEFEATS THE AEGILIANS

Ion, while gathering an army against the Aegialians and Selinus their king, received a message from Selinus, who offered to give him in marriage Helice [This is Ilios, Wilusas, the area around Troy], his only child, as well as to adopt him as his son and successor. It so happened that Selinus's proposal found favour with Ion, and on the death of Selinus, he became king of the Aegialians.

Ion called the city he founded in Aegialus "Helice" after his wife, and called the inhabitants Ionians after himself. This, however, was not a change of name, but an addition to it, for the folk were named Aegialian Ionians. The original name clung to the land even longer than to the people; for at any rate in the list of the allies of Agamemnon, Homer is content to mention the ancient name of the land:

"Throughout all Aegialus and about wide Helice."

THE ACHAEANS

According to Pausanius, the inhabitants of Lacedaemon and Argos were the only Peloponnesians to be called Achaeans before the return of the Dorians for the following reason:

Archander and Architeles were sons of Achaeus, who was the son of Xuthus. Archander and Architeles thee sons of Achaeus came from Phthiotis to Argos, and after their arrival became sons-in-law of Danaus, Architeles marrying Automate, and Archander marrying Scaea. [Pausanius adds that a very clear proof that they settled in Argos is the fact that Archander named his son Metanastes (settler), but if anything this is a proof of the contrary.]

When Archander and Architeles the sons of Achaeus came to power in Argos and Lacedaemon, the inhabitants of these towns came to be called Achaeans. The name Achaeans was common to them; the Argives had the special name of Danai.

THE DORIANS ATTACK: ACHAEANS FROM ARGOS AND LACEDAEMON TRY TO SETTLE IN ANATOLIA

When the Achaeans were expelled from Argos and Lacedaemon by the Dorians, the Achaeans themselves and their king Tisamenus, the son of Orestes, sent heralds to the Ionians, offering to settle among them without warfare. But the kings of the Ionians were afraid that, if the Achaeans united with them, Tisamenus would be chosen king of the combined people because of his manliness and noble lineage. The Ionians rejected the proposal of the Achaeans and came out to fight them.

In the battle Tisamenus was killed, but the Ionians were overcome by the Achaeans and fled to Helice. [Helice is probably another name for Helios, Ilios, Wilusa, the area around Troy.] There they were besieged by the Achaeans, and afterwards they were allowed to depart under a truce. The body of Tisamenus was buried in Helice by the Achaeans, but afterwards at the command of the Delphic oracle the Lacedaemonians carried his bones to Sparta, and in my own day his grave still existed in the place where the Lacedaemonians take the dinner called Pheiditia.

[From Apollodorus on The House of Pelops: After Pelops had reached the Ocean and been cleansed by Hephaestus, [note that Pelops is sea going here] he returned to Pisa in Elis and succeeded to the kingdom of Oenomaus, but not until he had subjugated what was formerly called Apia and Pelasgiotis (in other words Pelagian speaking), which he them called the Peloponnesus after himself.]

[Under Mursili II, Manapa-Tarhunta fled from his brother Ura-Tarhunta, the ruler of Seha River-Appiaya region. Manapa-Tarhunta then backed Uhha-ziti, the King of Arzawa, which kingdom was located around Ephesus, just down the coast from Troy, in a revolt from Hittite rule. Mursili II defeated Uhha-ziti of Arzawa and installed Manapa-Tarhuntaas as ruler of the Seha River-Appiaya region (Beckman, page 78-79).]

[Note that there is a plague in Mursili II's time. If this followed the pattern of some later plagues, it may have been transmitted along sea-based trade routes. While the "civilized" trade connected world would have been hard hit, those not in the trade network may have escaped relatively unharmed. The next question is what caused the climate collapse and plague.]

ATHENS RESISTS THE DORIANS, ACCEPTS ANATOLIAN REFUGEES

At that time, in the reign of Ion over Athens, the Eleusinians made war on the Athenians, and these having invited Ion to be their leader in the war, he met his death in Attica, his tomb being in the deme of Potamus. The descendants of Ion became rulers of the Ionians, until they themselves as well as the people of Ionia were expelled by the Achaeans. The Achaeans at that time had themselves been expelled from Lacedaemon and Argos by the Dorians.

The Ionians went to Attica, and they were allowed to settle there by the Athenians and their king Melanthus, the son of Andropompus, I suppose for the sake of Ion and his achievements when he was commander-in-chief of the Athenians.

Another account is that the Athenians suspected that the Dorians would not keep their hands off them, and received the Ionians to strengthen themselves rather than for any good-will they felt towards the Ionians.

THE MYTHICAL ORIGIN OF THE ARCADIANS

Continuing with Apollodorus, Callisto [Thera] was a companion of Artemis in the chase, wore the same garb, and swore to her to remain a maid. Zeus loved Callisto and, having assumed the likeness, as some say, of Artemis, or, as others say, of Apollo, he shared her bed against her will.

Wishing to escape the notice of Hera, Zeus turned Callisto into a bear, but Hera persuaded Artemis to shoot her down as a wild beast. Some say, however, that Artemis shot her down because she did not keep her maidenhood.

When Callisto perished, Zeus snatched the babe, named it Arcas, and gave it to Maia to bring up in Arcadia; and Zeus turned Callisto into a star and called it the Bear. [this is an early constellation name derivation]

TEUTHRAS, TELEPHIS, AND THE ARCADIAN CONQUEST OF MYSIA

Arcas the son of Callisto had two sons, Elatus and Aphidas, by Leanira, daughter of Amyclas, or by Meganira, daughter of Croco, or according to Eumelus, by a nymph Chrysopelia.

Elatus and Aphidas divided the land between them, but Elatus had all the power. Elatus fathered Stymphalus and Pereus by Laodice, daughter of Cinyras, and Aphidas had a son Aleus, and a daughter Stheneboea, who was married to Proetus.

FAMINE

And Aphidas's son Aleus had a daughter Auge and two sons, Cepheus and Lycurgus, by Neaera, daughter of Pereus. Auge held the priesthood of the goddess Athena, but was seduced by Hercules and hid her babe in the temple precinct. But the land became barren, and the oracles declared that there was impiety in the precinct of Athena. As Auge was detected and she was delivered by her father to Nauplius to be put to death, but Teuthras, prince of Mysia, received Auge from Nauplius and married her.

Auge's baby was exposed on Mount Parthenius, but was suckled by a doe and hence called Telephus. Bred by the neatheards of Corythus, Telephus went to Delphi in quest of his parents, and on information he received from the god he repaired to Mysia and became an adopted son of Teuthras, on whose death he succeeded to the princedom.

THE DORIAN CONQUEST OF ATHENS

A few years afterwards Medon and Neileus, the oldest of the sons of Codrus, quarrelled about the rule: Neileus refused to allow Medon to rule over him, because he was lame in one foot. The disputants agreed to refer the matter to the Delphic oracle, and the Pythian priestess gave the kingdom of Athens to Medon. So Neileus and the rest of the sons of Codrus set out to found a colony, taking with them any Athenian who wished to go with them, but the greatest number of their company was composed of Ionians. [7.2.2]

This was the third expedition sent out from Greece under kings of a race different from that of the common folk. The earliest expedition was when Iolaus of Thebes, the nephew of Heracles, led the Athenians and Thespians to Sardinia.

One generation before the Ionians set sail from Athens, the Lacedaemonians and Minyans who had been expelled from Lemnos by the Pelasgians were led by the Theban Theras, the son of Autesion, to the island now called after him, but formerly named Calliste [Thera].

REFUGEES FROM ATHENS HEAD FOR ANATOLIA

[7.2.3] The third occasion was the expedition to which I have referred, when the sons of Codrus were appointed leaders of the Ionians, although they were not related to them, but were, through Codrus and Melanthus, Messenians of Pylus, and, on their mother's side, Athenians. Those who shared in the expedition of the Ionians were the following among the Greeks: some Thebans under Philotas, a descendant of Peneleus; Minyans of Orchomenus, because they were related to the sons of Codrus. [7.2.4] There also took part all the Phocians except the Delphians, and with them Abantes from Euboea.

Ships for the voyage were given to the Phocians by Philogenes and Damon, Athenians and sons of Euctemon, who themselves led the colony. When they landed in Asia they divided, the different parties attacking the different cities on the coast, and Neileus with his party made for Miletus [MILA].

[7.2.5] The Milesians themselves give the following account of their earliest history. For two generations, they say, their land was called Anactoria, during the reigns of Anax, an aboriginal, and of Asterius his son; but when Miletus landed with an army of Cretans both the land and the city changed their name to Miletus. Miletus and his men came from Crete, fleeing from Minos, the son of Europa; the Carians, the former inhabitants of the land, united with the Cretans.

But to resume. [7.2.6] When the Ionians had overcome the ancient Milesians they killed every male, except those who escaped at the capture of the city, but the wives of the Milesians and their daughters they married.The grave of Neileus is on the left of the road, not far from the gate, as you go to Didymi. The sanctuary of Apollo at Didymi, and his oracle, are earlier than the immigration of the Ionians, while the cult of Ephesian Artemis is far more ancient still than their coming.

[7.2.7]It seems to me that Pindar, however, did not learn everything about the goddess (Artenis), for he says that this sanctuary was founded by the Amazons during their campaign against Athens and Theseus.1 It is a fact that the women from the Thermodon, as they knew the sanctuary from of old, sacrificed to the Ephesian goddess both on this occasion and when they had fled from Heracles; some of them earlier still, when they had fled from Dionysus, having come to the sanctuary as suppliants. However, the sanctuary was not founded by the Amazons, but by Coresus, an aboriginal, and Ephesus, who is thought to have been a son of the Cayster River, and from Ephesus the city received its name.

[7.2.8] The inhabitants of the land were partly Leleges, a branch of the Carians, but the greater number were Lydians. In addition there were others who dwelt around the sanctuary for the sake of its protection, and these included some women of the race of the Amazons. But Androclus the son of Codrus (for it was he who was appointed King of the Ionians who sailed against Ephesus) expelled from the land the Leleges and Lydians who occupied the upper city. Those, however, who dwelt around the sanctuary had nothing to fear; they exchanged oaths of friendship with the Ionians and escaped warfare.

Androclus also took Samos from the Samians, and for a time the Ephesians held Samos and the adjacent islands. [7.2.9] But after that the Samians had returned to their own land, Androclus helped the people of Priene against the Carians. The Greek army was victorious, but Androclus was killed in the battle. The Ephesians carried off his body and buried it in their own land, at the spot where his tomb is pointed out at the present day, on the road leading from the sanctuary past the Olympieum to the Magnesian gate. On the tomb is a statue of an armed man.

[7.2.10] The Ionians [refugees from Athens] who settled at Myus and Priene, also took the cities from Carians. The founder of Myus was Cyaretus the son of Codrus, But the people of Priene, half Theban and half Ionian, had as their founders Philotas, the descendant of Peneleus, and Aepytus, the son of Neileus. The people of Priene, although they suffered much at the hands of Tabutes the Persian and afterwards at the hands of Hiero, a native, yet down to the present day are accounted Ionians.

The people of Myus left their city on account of the following accident. [7.2.11] A small inlet of the sea used to run into their land. The Maeander River turned this inlet into a lake, by blocking up the entrance with mud. When the water, ceasing to be sea, became fresh,1 gnats in vast swarms bred in the lake until the inhabitants were forced to leave the city. The people of Myus departed for Miletus, taking with them the images of the gods and their other movables, and on my visit I found nothing in Myus except a white marble temple of Dionysus. A fate similar to that of Myus happened to the people of Atarneus, under Mount Pergamus.

[7.3.1] The people of Colophon suppose that the sanctuary at Clarus, and the oracle, were founded in the remotest antiquity. They assert that while the Carians still held the land, the first Greeks to arrive were Cretans under Rhacius, who was followed by a great crowd also; these occupied the shore and were strong in ships, but the greater part of the country continued in the possession of the Carians.

When Thebes was taken by Thersander, the son of Polyneices, and the Argives, among the prisoners brought to Apollo at Delphi was Manto. Her father Teiresias had died on the way, in Haliartia, [7.3.2] and when the god had sent them out to found a colony, they crossed in ships to Asia, but as they came to Clarus, the Cretans came against them armed and carried them away to Rhacius. But Rhacius, learning from Manto who they were and why they were come, took Manto to wife, and allowed the people with her to inhabit the land. Mopsus, the son of Rhacius and of Manto, drove the Carians from the country altogether.

[7.3.3] The Ionians swore an oath to the Greeks in Colophon, and lived with them in one city on equal terms, but the kingship was taken by the Ionian leaders, Damasichthon and Promethus, sons of Codrus. Afterwards Promethus killed his brother Damasichthon and fled to Naxos, where he died, but his body was carried home and received by the sons of Damasichthon. The name of the place where Damasichthon is buried is called Polyteichides. [7.3.4]

How it befell that Colophon was laid waste I have already related in my account of Lysimachus.1 Of those who were transported to Ephesus only the people of Colophon fought against Lysimachus and the Macedonians. The grave of those Colophonians and Smyrnaeans who fell in the battle is on the left of the road as you go to Clarus.

[7.3.5] The city of Lebedus was razed to the ground by Lysimachus, simply in order that the population of Ephesus might be increased. The land around Lebedus is a happy one; in particular its hot baths are more numerous and more pleasant than any others on the coast. Originally Lebedus also was inhabited by the Carians, until they were driven out by Andraemon the son of Codrus and the Ionians. The grave of Andraemon is on the left of the road as you go from Colophon, when you have crossed the river Calaon.

[7.3.6] Teos used to be inhabited by Minyans of Orchomenus, who came to it with Athamas. This Athamas is said to have been a descendant of Athamas the son of Aeolus. Here too there was a Carian element combined with the Greek, while Ionians were introduced into Teos by Apoecus, a great-grandchild of Melanthus, who showed no hostility either to the Orchomenians or to the Teians. A few years later there came men from Athens and from Boeotia; the Attic contingent was under Damasus and Naoclus, the sons of Codrus, while the Boeotians were led by Geres, a Boeotian. Both parties were received by Apoecus and the Teians as fellow-settlers.

[7.3.7] The Erythraeans say that they came originally from Crete with Erythrus the son of Rhadamanthus, and that this Erythrus was the founder of their city. Along with the Cretans there dwelt in the city Lycians, Carians, and Pamphylians: Lycians because of their kinship with the Cretans, as they came of old from Crete, having fled along with Sarpedon; Carians because of their ancient friendship with Minos; Pamphylians because they too belong to the Greek race, being among those who after the taking of Troy wandered with Calchas. The peoples I have enumerated occupied Erythrae when Cleopus the son of Codrus gathered men from all the cities of Ionia, so many from each, and introduced them as settlers among the Erythraeans.

[7.3.8] The cities of Clazomenae and Phocaea were not inhabited before the Ionians came to Asia. When the Ionians arrived, a wandering division of them sent for a leader, Parphorus, from the Colophonians, and founded under Mount Ida a city which shortly afterwards they abandoned, and returning to Ionia they founded Scyppium in the Colophonian territory. [7.3.9] They left of their own free-will Colophonian territory also, and so occupied the land which they still hold, and built on the mainland the city of Clazomenae. Later they crossed over to the island through their fear of the Persians. But in course of time Alexander the son of Philip was destined to make Clazomenae a peninsula by a mole from the mainland to the island.

Of these Clazomenians the greater part were not Ionians, but Cleonaeans and Phliasians, who abandoned their cities when the Dorians had returned to Peloponnesus.

[7.3.10] The Phocaeans are by birth from the land under Parnassus still called Phocis, who crossed to Asia with the Athenians Philogenes and Damon. They took their land from the Cymaeans, not by war but by agreement. When the Ionians would not admit them to the Ionian confederacy until they accepted kings of the race of the Codridae, they accepted Deoetes, Periclus, and Abartus from Erythrae and from Teos.